Clients: Victoria & Adam Spragg

Venue: Buxted Park, East Sussex

Date: 16th November 2012

Package: Remember Everything

Upgades: Creative Mood Lighting, Name Projection

 

Following our Thursday evening at The Kent Wedding Awards, the focus of attention turned to the eagerly anticipated wedding day of Vicki & Adam at Buxted Park. We arrived very early for this one at around 10:30 as we were providing our Remember Everything Package in association with Remember That, our sister company run by professional wedding  photographer Julia Keeley. When we provide this package I also take photographs during the day which provides the bride and groom with even greater coverage.

So why was this wedding so anticipated ? Vicki had booked us in quite a long time ago and it was always a stand out wedding as a result of her enthusiasm and energy, she completely embraced the whole wedding experience from start to finish which I personally loved as I am very passionate about the industry, I love nothing more than seeing everything come together after such a long wait from the initial booking process. I think I heard Adam say on the day “She’s had too much time and too much money to plan this”  🙂 lol …which I’m sure a lot of grooms have said before, but the way Vicki enjoyed her wedding story ultimately made it a fantastic experienced for everyone who played a part in it …here’s our timeline how we saw the day, if your reading this blog and I’ve forgotten to mention your input then please feel free to add your comment at the bottom.

1030 – Julia is over with Vicki and her bridesmaids for the bridal preparations at The East Sussex National Hotel, this gives me a few valuable hours at Buxted Park where the groom was staying. It’s a fresh misty autumn day but perfect for capturing some dramatic bridal shots so I’m having a good look around for some potential locations for shots of Vicki & Adam after the ceremony.

1100 – If you are not familiar with Buxted Park then from a photography point of view then have a good walk about because it’s a bit of a dream outside …this is what I found. Go to the other side of the pond, this offers the opportunity to capture reflection shots of the bride and groom with Buxted Park  in the background. From there make your way back to the rear of the building (perfect for the group shots plus there may be a chance to get access to the balconies). When you walk down to the bottom of the steps the main part of the building starts to appear to stand tall and starts to look very much like a small palace rather than a hotel.  After this if you follow the footpath straight to the end then you will find some rusty old iron gates which are always great for bridal shots, there are also a few nice trees with nice features. So plenty of places and I had high expectations for this part of the photography.

1145 – Just over an hour to go till the ceremony and it’s been impossible at this point to nail Adam and his entourage down for any shots due to the fact that he is not here ! He’s been in and out of Buxted Park organising wedding cars and sending nappies over to The East Sussex National Hotel …and the best man is also yet to arrive, an earlier phone call seems to indicate a spot of car trouble. Back inside and there’s a choirboy rehersing in the coat of arms room where the ceremony is to be staged along with a couple of other musicians.

Noon – Just been chatting to Sarah from A Little Bit Of Bling, she is decorating the coat of arms room (for the ceremony) and the ballroom (where the meal is) with numerous products including artificial snow, a starlight surround for the top table, centre pieces, favours, flowers, a snow machine for me to operate during the first dance, chair covers and most likely so much more I’ve simply forgotten. It transpired that she had left home at 4am !! Fortunately the venue are allowing us to store equipment in a room adjaceant to the ballroom, I still need to still bring in my disco kit for the evening but Julias been at the hotel with the van so I’m going to do this when everyone sits down for the meal but before then I need to install the creative mood lighting and the name projection. I can do this after I have got some of the planned outside shots while Julia is doing the group shots.

1215 – Still not seen the groom and co. but have been assured they will be back before the ceremony thankfully, so this gives me a chance to observe a last minute delivery which seems to of thrown the management into a temporary panic. It’s an Ice Sculpture and guess what ? It’s only got the table plan inside it ! What a great idea. I havn’t met Vicki yet but I’m looking forward to meeting the personality behind all of this  🙂

1230 – I’m back at the grooms room now and am pleased to discover that they have all recently returned, although interestingly I’ve just captured a shot of the grooms dad carrying a girls dress back into his room ! however the best man has now surfaced and everything is about to fall into place with just 30 minutes now till the ceremony. My hopes of dragging them all out to get some boys group shots are fading in the Autumn mist though as Adam is still trying to come to terms with dressing Callum (Vicki’s eldest) as well as himself, but they’ve all done well though having successfully completed the unexpected challenges set for them by Vicki throughout the morning, I don’t think Adam has had a minute to even get nervous about the wedding and seems as cool as a cucumber.

1245 – Just had a call from Julia over at the hotel who is now done and they will all be on their way shortly, I need to be at the front of the hotel to capture the bridal party arrival so I make my way out there to discover a bus full of guests have since arrived …I get to meet the latest player today, the videographer – after our introductions I confirm with him that Julia is the lead photographer and on her way with the bridal party, I also get to meet Vicki’s brother who is looking anxiously excited …he’s actually going to be giving her away today.

1310 – Slightly later than expected, the bridal party start to appear out of the mist up the winding approach road to Buxted Park Hotel. First up are the very glamorous bridesmaids who I believe to consist of Vicki’s sisters and her best friend stepping out of a sparkling white taxi in their blue gowns …along with Vicki & Adams young daughter who is soon to take centre stage 🙂 Shortly after the bride arrives in a stunning cream vintage car and with a little drizzle in the air, her brother is quick to protect the stunning bride with one of the hotels umbrellas (which will come in handy later too). After a quick pose for the cameras Vicki is whisked into see the registrar as the guests assemble for the ceremony.

1400 – The registrar has just announced the words “I now pronounce you husband and wife” …Vicki & Adams daughter who I’m guessing is around 18 months delivers a loud vocal “UH OHHHH” bang on cue which causes uproar amongst the guests …and photographers !

1425 – Everyone has been in the Orangery for the drinks & canape reception …we have just met Vicki’s close up magician who has just arrived, it’s Matt Wainwright, I know of Matt and he’s pretty damn good, the guests are going to have a mesmering few hours with him. If your after a magician check him out and his you tube videos.

1500– We have just been out getting the shots that I had planned earlier and I know we have got some absolute stunners, we found Vicki to be a natural in front of the camera and a dream to work with, the lens loves her.

 

1505 – I am now installing the creative mood lighting and name projection (“Victoria & Adam”) in the ballroom while Julia is getting the group shots. Vicki has asked for a light blue throughout the room with a touch of pink behind the top table. A Jazz band has also arrived and are rehearsing in the corner, they are going to be playing throughout the meal.1530 – Everything is done and the guests are now sitting down for the wedding breakfast, time to quickly bring through all the dj kit for the evening now and store in the room next to the ballroom.

1600 – It’s a bit of a walk through from car park to storage room but it’s all done and time for a couple of hours breather. This gives me a chance to start compiling tonights playlist based on the ages of the guests I have already noted. Julia will take this time to download all the photos we have taken so far onto a Mac laptop so we can free up the memory cards. So far we have taken over a thousand photos between us since 1030.

1845 – Despite last minute persuasion from the best man …and Victoria, Adam has stuck to his guns and opted out of making a speech which concludes the daytime formalities. It’s time to bring the kit through for the evening disco. Vicki has also entrusted two boxes to me for the evening, one containing flip flops for the girls and the other with a wide variety of glow products including glasses, bracelets and rings. There’s another couple of additions on the way into Buxted Park for the evening, Casino Tables and a Photo Booth.

1930 – Everything is set up, a white starlit dance floor has also been laid. What I havn’t mentioned yet is that Vicki & Adam have taken 3 one hour dancing lessons and are going to perform the opening two minutes from the Dirty Dancing Soundtrack by Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes “I’ve had the time of my life” …there’s an extra twist involved that at 2 minutes when Vicki jumps into Adams arms (who will perform the lift) I have to then shower them in artificial snow courtesy of the snow machine. It’s essential that this is all timed correctly as if the snow is fired too early then it’s going to leave a very slippery floor for Vicki to run across so at this point we all decide to do a test run and it’s during this time I notice that Vicki has changed into an alternative dress for the first dance (the one being brought into the hotel by the grooms dad earlier – so that explains that).

1955 – The first dance is over and everything went perfectly. The guests have now joined Vicki and Adam on the floor for the remainder of the song and I’m still showering everyone with artificial snow. Vicki had already let me know that her music preferences were with Garage and RnB, I have a lot of tunes lined up for later on in the evening when they would be more appreciated as there were the casino tables, photo booth and buffet still to keep everyone entertained so initially I just played through a few requests and kept the dance floor ticking over as there were still a lot of guests plotted in the ballroom for the disco.

0000 – Once the other entertainment was over and everyone returned to the ballroom we finished on a massive high with an explosive spell of RnB & Hip Hop which started just before 11pm – not to mention a Callum inspired spell of cheesy party songs with hand movements and finishing on a bit of RnB as the Umbrellas came out for the Rihanna classic.

0130 – All packed up, I’m not driving back myself so I had a chance to savour a few beverages including Vicki’s very interesting cocktail that worked its way to my brain in double quick time …I must find out exactly what was in that. I’ve also just met a seriously drunken guest who appears to be getting married in the very near future who is frantically searching the car park for a cigarette in the process of walking through a chain barrier pulling it clean out of it’s concrete post lol, he also tried very hard to help us pack the van and he took a considerable amount of persuading that we could probably manage ok without him  😀

So that was it …never a dull moment ! 18 hours all inclusive with the travelling, even more remarkably Sarah from A Little Bit Of Bling is still here and about to leave …with a journey back to the West Midlands that’s a 24 hour day all in but I’m sure all involved would agree that the wedding of Vicki & Adam was highly memorable and a nice reminder why us suppliers love working in the wedding industry …what other job can you think of that you would be prepared to work for that length of time ?

 

Article written by DJ Phil Webster 

Here’s the set list from Friday, if you were at the wedding how about leaving us a comment.

Click here to see more photos from this wedding on our facebook group.

 

19:49 : Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes – (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life
19:53 : Beyoncé РSingle Ladies (Put a Ring On It)
19:57 : Usher – Pop Ya Collar
19:59 : Olly Murs – Dance With Me Tonight
20:03 : Cover Drive – Twilight
20:06 : Peter Andre – Mysterious Girl
20:08 : Inner Circle – Sweat (A la la la la Song)
20:13 : Mark Morrison – Return of the Mack
20:16 : Mac Band – Roses Are Red (feat. The McCampbell Brothers)
20:20 : Bobby Brown – Two Can Play That Game
20:23 : R. Kelly – She’s Got That Vibe
20:27 : Robbie Williams – Candy
20:30 : Sam and the Womp – Bom Bom (Radio Edit)
20:31 : PSY – Gangnam Style
20:36 : Shy FX & T Power – Shake Ur Body
20:40 : Artful Dodger & Craig David – Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo Selecta)
20:44 : DJ Luck & MC Neat – Sambuca
20:47 : Rizzle Kicks – Mama Do the Hump
20:50 : Flo Rida – Whistle
20:53 : Flo Rida – I Cry
20:54 : Nicki Minaj – Starships
20:57 : Azealia Banks – 212 (feat. Lazy Jay)
21:00 : Avicii – Levels (Radio Edit)
21:01 : Otto Knows – Million Voices
21:05 : Usher – Scream
21:06 : Calvin Harris – Sweet Nothing (feat. Florence Welch)
21:07 : Rihanna – Where Have You Been
21:10 : Calvin Harris – Let’s Go (feat. Ne-Yo) [Radio Edit]
21:14 : LMFAO – Sexy and I Know It
21:16 : Swedish House Mafia – Don’t You Worry Child (Radio Edit)
21:19 : Wiley – Can You Hear Me? (Ayayaya)
21:23 : B.o.B – So Good
21:25 : The Streets – Fit But You Know It
21:29 : Will Smith – Gettin Jiggy With It
21:33 : CC Peniston – Finally
21:37 : Robin S. – Show Me Love
21:40 : BeyoncÈ – Crazy In Love
21:44 : Justin Timberlake – Rock Your Body
21:47 : Justin Bieber – Baby (feat. Ludacris)
21:50 : JLS – She Makes Me Wanna (feat. Dev)
21:54 : One Direction – What Makes You Beautiful
21:57 : Los Del Rio – Macarena
22:01 : Whigfield – Saturday Night
22:05 : Village People – Y.M.C.A.
22:08 : Wham – Wake me up before you go
22:12 : B52s – Love Shack
22:17 : Sam and Dave – Soul Man
22:19 : James Brown – I Feel Good
22:22 : The Fatback Band – I Found Lovin’
22:25 : Whitney Houston – I Wanna Dance With Somebody (2000 Remaster)
22:30 : Vanilla Ice – Ice Ice Baby
22:31 : MC Hammer – U Can’t Touch This
22:33 : Swedish House Mafia Vs Tinie Tempah – Miami 2 Ibiza
22:34 : Chris Brown – Beautiful People (feat. Benny Benassi)
22:36 : Calvin Harris – Bounce (Radio Edit) [feat. Kelis]
22:37 : Swedish House Mafia – One (Your Name) [Radio Edit]
22:41 : Eric Carman – Hungry Eyes
22:45 : Salt-N-Pepa – Push It (Radio Version)
22:46 : Wiley – Wearing My Rolex
22:50 : David Guetta – She Wolf (Falling to Pieces) [feat. Sia]
22:53 : FatMan Scoop (Ft. Faith Evans) – Be Faithful
22:57 : Blackstreet – No Diggety
23:01 : Usher Feat. Lil’ Jon and Ludac – Yeah
23:04 : Ice Cube – You Can Do It
23:08 : Montell Jordan – This Is How We Do It (Radio Mix)
23:09 : Fat Joe, Remy & Terror Squad – Lean Back
23:11 : D’Banj – Oliver Twist
23:16 : Baby D – Let Me Be Your Fantasy
23:18 : Fat Joe, Remy & Terror Squad – Lean Back
23:22 : The Notorious B.I.G. – Hypnotize
23:26 : Jay Z – Dirt off your shoulders
23:29 : Duck Sauce – Barbra Streisand
23:30 : Azealia Banks – 212 (feat. Lazy Jay)
23:32 : PSY – Gangnam Style
23:37 : DJ Fresh – Gold Dust (Vocal VIP Mix)
23:39 : So Solid Crew – 21 Seconds
23:40 : Swedish House Mafia – Greyhound
23:43 : Rudimental – Feel the Love
23:46 : The Original – I Luv U Baby (Dancing Divas 1995 Remix)
23:47 : Estelle – American Boy
23:51 : Jay-Z – Empire State of Mind (feat. Alicia Keys)
23:56 : Rhianna – Umbrella
00:00 : Yolanda B Cool – We No Speak Americano (UK Radio Edit)
00:02 : Wretch 32 – Traktor (feat. L) [Radio Edit]